Does the Harden trade make Gay more getable?

Getable is a word i made up!

anyways, i was thinking, and you know Memphis has to be looking at their roster and their future now especially and wondering if they should trade Gay (most logical piece/contract to trade) now rather than later?

Memphis has new ownership led by Pera but with backers like Justin Timberlake and Peyton Manning. Not sure money will be a reason anymore but we'll soon find out.

If Gay becomes available, I think it takes one more team out of the running for his services which is good. Unfortunately, Cleveland is still sitting on a mountain of cap space, expiring contracts, young players, draft picks, and a need for a SF.

I think Gay would be slightly more attainable but still see him being very difficult to obtain. Wilson Chandler is nice but I'm not as interested in him as I would be in Gay or Granger. Derrick Williams could be interesting but only if the TWolves are just looking to dump him. Not sure I'd be willing to give up much for him at this point.

Memphis has new ownership led by Pera but with backers like Justin Timberlake and Peyton Manning. Not sure money will be a reason anymore but we'll soon find out.

Money will be a reason for every team starting next season when the new luxury tax penalties kick in. Memphis is right at the luxury tax level. If they want to make any changes to their roster they need to free up cap space. The two obvious players to free up space are Randolph and Gay.

Gay may be gettable because nobody wants Randolph on his huge contract, and Memphis will need to shed salary somehow. Keep in mind, Gay will make $19.3M in 2014-15, which will probably make him one of the highest paid players in the league.

I'm not sure the Raptors have the best package though. We could offer either Derozan/Ross with Davis and Calderon. If they got Ross, Davis, and Calderon, it would save Memphis $12M next season. With Derozan, Davis, Calderon, it'd probably be closer to $6M in savings after they re-sign DeRozan.

Maybe if DeRozan made a big enough leap this season Memphis would rather have him at half the price of Gay. Still seems like other teams with draft picks could put together a more attractive package for a team looking to shed salary.

Money will be a reason for every team starting next season when the new luxury tax penalties kick in. Memphis is right at the luxury tax level. If they want to make any changes to their roster they need to free up cap space. The two obvious players to free up space are Randolph and Gay.

Gay may be gettable because nobody wants Randolph on his huge contract, and Memphis will need to shed salary somehow. Keep in mind, Gay will make $19.3M in 2014-15, which will probably make him one of the highest paid players in the league.

I'm not sure the Raptors have the best package though. We could offer either Derozan/Ross with Davis and Calderon. If they got Ross, Davis, and Calderon, it would save Memphis $12M next season. With Derozan, Davis, Calderon, it'd probably be closer to $6M in savings after they re-sign DeRozan.

Maybe if DeRozan made a big enough leap this season Memphis would rather have him at half the price of Gay. Still seems like other teams with draft picks could put together a more attractive package for a team looking to shed salary.

I'm well aware of Memphis' cap situation and I understand the reasons why he might be traded.

However, old ownership was dead set against going in to the luxury. Who is to say the new ownership takes the same stance? I've not yet read or heard anything to suggest that the views of Heisley are the views of the new ownership group.

If Heisley was still the owner, I'd say Gay was as good as gone sometime this year but Heisley is no the owner. Anything and everything about Gay being traded is pure, unfounded speculation. The situation in Memphis has changed.